


GlitchEd

by Newspaper



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Arrow is a fanmade character created by whom I'm giving this fic to, Basically a 'What if?" scenario, Gen, If you can think of any other tags hit me uppp, This fic is also based off of the beginning of my own fanfic story "The Last Heart", This fic is situational, Undertale AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2018-04-02
Packaged: 2019-04-17 09:13:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14185704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Newspaper/pseuds/Newspaper
Summary: Arial Narrow is transported to an Alternate Universe in which Chara and Frisk are bound towards a predetermined storyline. When the code splicer tries to save them both from their destined fates, it's then up to them to fix what they had started... whether anyone likes it or not.





	GlitchEd

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MundaneOwl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MundaneOwl/gifts).



> >This was written for the contest winner of my "Draw Newspaper" contest! Thank you so much once again for participating. <3  
> >To give a quick explanation, this story includes a character of theirs getting involved with a situation from my fanfic "The Last Heart"  
> >I will always apologize with how slow I am at writing ;w; =w=;;;
> 
> > IT IS LONG AND I APOLOGIZE hope you enjoy homie <3

_There was a heavy breathing not too far off, amidst the dark that was the universe._

 

In the beginning where nothing remained, other than the sight of their own eyelids; having been closed within the millisecond of a blink to stare at their backs before ever so hesitantly opening them again… there was a simple and rather familiar darkness.

 

They should have been used to this by now, and yet their soul was racing in their chest at the sound of someone _else's_ heavy breathing.

 

It was a panicked breathing, as if they were running for something-- _from something._ And it was a breathing taking place far _far_ away, elsewhere… not from where _they themselves_ were from, but from another universe.

 

As their eyes fully opened wide, they were graced with the code of the world-- said specific world, the world their soul guided them towards… and the world where they had heard the rushing breath of someone in great fear and need. It was how they travelled, how they found themselves traversing the multitude of dimensions that existed on such a small timeline.

 

Each world, each universe, each alternate timeline that had been laid down beside their own… they _all_ had their _own_ order of code, of structure and data. And this one was no exception.

 

The being stared onward towards a closed gate, blocked by a code that they had to remove in order to make it through. There had to have been a reason they were sent to such a specific place, right? To such a timeline… to witness such events…

 

_“Frisk…!”_

 

_To listen to suffering._

 

The being had heard the call of a familiar melody, calling out to a companion as they themselves leaned forward to try and take a glimpse at the events beginning to unfold. There they watched, like a movie reel, as two delinquents ran as fast as they could down the docks to their left. Almost as soon as the two were seen running, large dog-like monsters started howling and barking after them, all the while the two maneuvered to try and avoid hitting any crates or persons who were unloading equipment off their boats.

 

They were in trouble.

 

_“Frisk run!”_ The sing-song voice rang out again, triggering something within the watchers very being.

 

There was a howling that vibrated around the watcher, within the void of space they stood, hiding in the cocoon of symbols and letters. The howling and barking echoed along the invisible walls, all having managed to escape from the single linear point that the watcher now faced. A thin yet electric line within said space, where all the noise escaped.

The being lifted their brush-like staff, pressing it forward where the bundle of bristles bloomed, and began bending the reality that surrounded them. They pushed against the frail line within the code, and slowly helped it split apart.

Their soul was racing almost uncontrollably, and they easily knew why. It was in their DNA after all, their devoted need to protect any and all of their kind in as many universes as possible.

 

Any Chara, and any Frisk. Within _any_ universe.

_And one of them was in trouble._

 

A light blinded the traveller just as the walls of the universe started to curl away. But they barely flinched, they didn’t even hesitate thanks to having gotten used to how these types of powers worked. As they slowly stepped out to reveal themselves into the light, they needed just a mere moment to let their eyes adjust to their newfound surroundings, as well as let all their senses regain composure to the world.

A gentle breeze, the smell of salty waters, and hearing the heavy breaths of their surrounding persons… they finally cleared their mind as their sight resurfaced to skim what appeared to be an abduction.

The all too recognizable face of Frisk, in an alternate universe, appearing run down and having obviously been through hell… stared directly at the new intruder with wide chocolate brown eyes. Their brows were furrowed in confusion and worry, and as the traveller turned their attention towards the other side of the established battlefield, every other face seemed just as confused and panicked; if not equally, much more than Frisk could express. Just as confused as the frail looking human, there was a Chara who gave the watcher a wide-eyed stare of surprise and fear. The being could practically _feel_ Chara and Frisk’s souls racing within their chest, they could practically _hear_ them pounding against their rib cages. And the ones that kept the two teenagers separated from one another was none other than the Undyne of the current universe… an Undyne with deep blue skin and burning red hair, and aggravated eyes that matched the fire she was apparently trying to set ablaze within the ‘new comer.’

 

It’s as if everything had decided to take a break, everyone halted… Chara had even paused their struggles in Undyne’s grasp just to give the stranger this curious stare.

 

And Frisk’s gaze was also curious, but surprisingly, more hopeful.

 

Just as everyone had paused in that moment to take notice of the teleporter revealing themselves, Frisk was the first to return back to business. The traveller maneuvered out of Frisk’s way as Frisk screamed, in fear and panic, towards Undyne, who also returned to her own task at hand. She snarled loudly as Chara also began to get back to their _own_ business; which was kicking and shouting at Undyne as she forcefully began to yank and drag the teenager backward with the help of her fellow comrades.

Ignoring the teleporter once more, Frisk had stepped forward and cried out as loud as their lungs would possibly let them “ **LET CHARA GO!** ”

 

_“Chara.”_

 

The stranger repeated the name softly, now walking up towards Undyne and Chara as the blue fish monster never faltered or hesitated at the person’s approach. A few of the dog monsters, in their rather _out of date_ clothing, slowly began to aim their weapons in the direction of the approaching teleporter. Most of them still confused and surprised, and yet all of them still determined to protect the one who was _clearly_ their boss.

The paint brush wielder didn’t even flinch at the threats surrounding them, they took only a second to swiftly lunge forward and twirl the staff that was equal to their height, smacking the weapons out of their paws just as quickly as they had been revealed. The monsters were each taken aback by this, but the interdimensional explorer only needed to give one of them a swift jab in the gut for the others to stumble back at the sudden action. They had flipped their brush over to use the butt end of the weapon, forcefully pushing at one to cause them to almost topple downward. They instead fell into another dog-monsters grasp, who supported them as a few others began to express their confusion almost verbally. Grunts, whines, and whimpers started to sound at the strange behavior of the being who appeared practically from thin air, from a portal that came out of nowhere-- and over someone fighting them off with a _paint brush of all things._

All the while, said beings facial features remained plain and poised, neutral and almost disinterested... and yet their actions expressed an intensity and passion for their cause. They were fighting to save the same person Frisk shouted for, as the new being demanded rather strictly “Let Chara go, _now._ ”

“Or else _what?_ ” Undyne scoffed harshly, ignoring their orders as she kept her tight hold on Chara. Chara squirmed and let out a few rough grunts as they attempted to break free on their own, however Undyne had proved herself long ago-- and in _many_ alternate timelines-- that she was way too strong for a simple human to fight off. Undyne continued, still taking a few steps backward towards her automobile. Some of the dog monsters that had their weapons knocked out of their hands were reaching for their weapons again, but now even Frisk was showing signs of bravery thanks to the strangers inclusion on the current dilemma. Frisk had shouted at them all-- nothing in particular, but a noise that startled the monsters enough to keep them away from their weapons. It also kept them away long enough for Frisk to rush forward and push all the dropped weapons to the side. Frisk was frighteningly close to the monsters, but for some reason they kept their eyes fixated on the interdimensional being… maybe it was their blank stare and intense tone that made them so _petrified_.

 

“What are you gonna do, kid?” Undyne bothered to ask “ _Paint_ me something _pretty?”_

 

Only a few of the fellow monsters bothered to chuckle, the rest remained silent. Undyne was quick to notice the strange intimidation that they had tossed at her companions, and her intense grin had faltered slightly “Where the hell’d you come from, anyway?”

“Does it matter?” The stranger ignored her question with a rhetorical one of their own, before repeating almost coldly “I told you to let Chara go.”

“Where the hell are you from?” Undyne continued with her own demands, gripping Chara’s arm now and practically shaking them beside her as if showing them off. Chara huffed as they were rattled, and Undyne scoffed “How do you know a runt like this, huh? Are you really willing to fight over someone like _this?”_

“Yes.” The paint brush wielder once again stepped forward. To prove their skill and perseverance in their goal, they began twirling their weapon in a way that showed finesse and mastery in staff combat. The front of the brush swayed and moved with the breeze and speed of the peculiar weapon. It looked like a literal gigantic paint brush, but at the same time they all had witnessed it aiding in the traveller’s appearance out of literal nowhere. It wasn’t the weapon itself that was frightening… it was the wielder.

Undyne barely looked intimidated even a little bit, but it was obvious she had only arrived to make a quick getaway with Chara. She most likely didn’t anticipate having to stick around for so long. With a heavy huff of annoyance, she surprisingly, and finally, obeyed their orders… but only to toss Chara backward against the car.

The teenager grunted as they slammed into the vehicle, stumbling somewhat to try and regain their composure just as Undyne created a spear out of thin air “Whatever the hell you are, you look like you’re gonna cause us a problem.”

“But of course.” The brush master replied plainly, glancing behind Undyne. The woman glared at the loss of their attention, however following it, she realized what they had watched. Looking behind her and towards the car, she took note that Chara was no longer leaning against it. Chara had hurried back to Frisk’s side, the two teenagers holding one another as they stared at Undyne behind the safety of their new savior’s determination. The rescuer persisted “Feel free to step away at any time now. If we start a scene, everyone will take note of what was attempted here. It would be a shame for your skill to be wasted in jail.”

“Is that a _threat?!”_ Undyne snapped, easily caving in to the teasing remarks. But even a dog guard grasped at her shoulder, gesturing elsewhere. There, the monster had pointed out a few dock workers slowly beginning to gather and watch whatever events were unfolding. Undyne’s shifting expression of concern made it clear she hadn’t planned on sticking around for so long, so after her angered words, she calmed as she backed away.

“It doesn’t matter, we’ll find _you_ again, anyway.” She promised with a wide toothy grin, mainly eying Chara as they held onto their friend more protectively. Chara’s deep brown eyes showed a ruby gleam within, a gleam that hid an anger towards Undyne’s threat. Her smile was menacing even as she retreated with the other members of her posse. She pointed directly towards Chara as she fully grasped the drivers side of the door with her free hand, having dispersed the spear “That gem around your neck belongs to the Underground, punk… I can guarantee that! We know you twerps live around here! We’ll be on patrol!”

She then swung her door open roughly just as the dog-monsters began piling into the other spots of her car, all the while looking at the main person who interrupted Undyne’s objective. Undyne hissed through sharp teeth “Maybe we’ll even snag this _freak._ I don’t know what the hell you are, but you watch your back too.”

It only took a few moments then before the car quickly drove off, and the curious workers of the nearby boats glanced at each other for a bit, before returning to their own tasks at hand. The watcher… the rescuer... had taken a moment to simply wait and watch the car drive off in the distance, but once it had turned the corner, they turned themselves around to look towards the two teenagers.

 

Both of them flinched when the stranger turned towards them, but it only took a split second before they had decided to ignore their existence and focus on eachother. Frisk was the first to touch and pat Chara’s face, their expression of fear and panic only spreading as they asked rather quickly “Are you okay? Did she hurt you?! Who was that?! What happened--”

“I’ll explain all of it later--” Chara tried to calm Frisk down, gripping their wrists to remove their hands. Frisk fought against this, but eventually complied just so Chara could return the favor and touch Frisk’s face as well. With a light smile they asked more calmly than the tanner of the duo “How about you? Are you okay?”

“I wasn’t the one about to be _stolen_ by some _gang!”_ Frisk puffed out their cheeks in annoyance, finally pulling away from the taller to look towards their hero.

The stranger had slowly moved their gaze away from the duo, inspecting the docks and the people that worked there. They gazed over the waters, the boats, at the many barrels and crates, before returning their focus to the Chara and Frisk of this timeline. And both of them eyed the figure in completely different ways; Frisk seemingly looking at them with admiration and appreciation, while Chara was giving some type of stink eye.

 

“What _are_ you?” Chara asked rather bluntly. This question received a rough nudge from Frisk, however Chara only grunted from the action before simply repeating “Seriously-- _who_ are you… or _what_ are you? You teleported out of nowhere--”

 

“And appeared just in time.” Frisk said quickly, touching a hand to their chest with a small smile at the stranger “Thank you so much.”

 

“You look human…” Chara crossed their arms over their chest as they let their eyes skim the hero up and down “...but you can use magic?”

 

Even after all was said, the teleporter was completely silent as they returned the peculiar gazes of the two. Frisk and Chara glanced towards one another, unsure about what else to say at that moment. There was a silence between the three of them, a silence that seemed to have lasted way too long for either of the ‘humans’ to feel comfortable. Frisk was openly shifting on their feet as they pondered what else to say, before the stranger finally gestured towards themselves. The sudden motion made both Frisk and Chara jump just a bit, but they listened as their hero spoke rather gently “I am Arial Narrow.”

 

“ _Arial Narrow?_ ” Chara repeated, trying their best to contain their grin. Frisk once more nudged Chara as if they were misbehaving, though it was apparent they were trying to suppress a need to laugh at such an uncommon name. The hero continued with a simple chuckle “Or _Arrow_ , for short. Everyone usually calls me Arrow.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Arrow!” Frisk said rather happily, clasping their hands together “I’m Frisk! This is my friend, Chara.”

Arrow gave a simple wave towards Chara, though unfortunately the kind gesture wasn’t returned. Instead, Chara returned to their main question moments ago, sneering slightly “So, _Arrow,_ what _are_ you? A human or a monster?”

“Does it really matter?” Frisk frowned towards their friend, though Arrow gave a little confused pout in response. It was obvious that Arrow was confused over the question, but Frisk tried their best to change the subject “Ah-- where are you from, Arrow? I mean, you kind of showed up out of nowhere… you had to have come from someplace.”

Arrow blinked once again, still seemingly confused. But before Frisk could reiterate, Arrow quickly nodded and said almost simply “I am from the underground-- I am not entirely familiar with the surface world… but it… must be easy to tell I am not from around here.”

 

“The Underground!?” Chara’s eyes grew wide, and almost immediately they had grabbed for Frisk’s arm to pull them closer. The younger stumbled back some against Chara, and the more assertive teen pointed angrily towards Arrow “The Underground’s full of people we’re trying to _avoid_ , so get lost!”

 

“Take it easy, Chara!” Frisk said as they pulled out of their friends hold “What are you talking about?!”

 

“You know about the underground?” Arrow simply asked, though also expressing worry at Chara’s panicked expression and Frisk’s concern. Even though Frisk had managed to pull out of Chara’s hold, Chara shook their head and continued pointing at Arrow almost like they were indeed some otherworldly _beast_ “The Underground is where Undyne came from! That fish monster that just showed up to try and snag me!”

 

Arrow’s eyes widened, Frisk immediately looked to the newcomer and frowned a bit more deeply “Is that true?”

“I am not from here.” Arrow said simply, looking to Frisk now since they held a much more calm demeanor than Chara “Please believe me, I do not understand the ‘Underground’ here that you speak of, I come from an alternate timeline where the underground is simply a location. Literally residing underground. I must have found myself here on accident, I tend to do that sometimes…”

Frisk looked back to Chara, but before being able to calm them down, Chara had pushed forward and grabbed for Arrow’s shirt. The traveller winced as they were practically shaken by the human “Listen! I’m sick of your stupid lies! Where did you _really_ come from?! I swear I’ll--”

“Chara, stop!” Frisk pushed forward as well but only to break Chara away. It caused the taller human to be yanked off of Arrow, and Arrow to almost lose their footing. When the three of them were left breathing heavily for a silent few seconds, Frisk eventually looked to Chara “What if they’re telling the truth? Magic _exists_ Chara, whether the Underground here is a gang or not, it’s not impossible for Arrow to be from… someplace else where the gang isn’t a _thing_ and it’s just a location.”

Chara continued standing there, hunched forward and glaring daggers in Arrows general direction. Arrow didn’t seem ready for a fight, they didn’t even look prepared for one. They simply returned the pleading look at Chara in hopes of them understanding too, just as Frisk was trying to understand. Frisk sighed softly, still staring at Chara “Please, can we just hear them out without things getting physical? You know I hate fighting.”

“Fine.” Chara said, folding their arms across their chest as they reapproached. Frisk flinched, as if expecting Chara to quickly land a hit on Arrow, but when nothing happened they smiled brightly instead. Chara demanded just as before, though thankfully a bit less roughly “So… what are you on about, again?”

“I have the ability to teleport with my brush.” Arrow was quick with getting into detail, gesturing towards their large staff that literally looked like a paint brush “It only works with me, but it allows me to traverse timelines, universes… codes… I was originally from another universe, an _alternate reality_ if you will, but I wound up here.”

“A real time traveller.” Frisk was awestruck, though Chara shrugged almost nonchalantly as if not impressed. Frisk gestured “They literally proved it when they just showed up out of the blue! It looked like an actual _tear_ in something! That was insane!” They then bounced slightly as they shook their fists “But it was so cool, too! You look human though, so what are you exactly… if… you don’t mind me asking?”

Arrow blinked thoughtfully, before smiling at Frisk “I am a monster, I just appear human thanks to someone donating their DNA for me to be created.” They glanced towards Chara, still smiling sweetly “It was the Chara of my timeline, actually.” They looked back towards Frisk then to finish “I was created for a purpose… but perhaps we can discuss that some other day or… timeline--”

 

“Alright, well, good for you but-- anyway…” Chara waved their hands to try and change the subject “If you got here on accident why not just teleport back?” They asked simply, scoffing lightly. Arrow tilted their head a bit at the suggestion, though it didn’t seem out of the question either. They give a small nod “I can try.” Before stepping away from the two.

Frisk pouts a bit at Chara, but also steps away as they watch Arrow lift their brush. While they span their staff weapon around as skillfully as they had done before, as soon as they did an upward stroking gesture with the tip of the brush, something strange had occurred… though the only strange thing that happened was _nothing at all happening._ Arrow paused, frowning when nothing happened, before muttering _“I do not understand, maybe I used more than I thought…”_ And so they tried again.

 

However, there was a sudden glitch in reality. Arrow had duplicated for a split second, the reality around them shifting as pieces of their own body seemed to vanish into thin air, causing fractures and holes to divide and be tossed into the code of the universe. It felt almost painful, and they grunted rather loudly before they tossed their brush to the ground, and themselves as well.

It wasn’t until things returned to normal in that instance that Frisk and Chara both hurried to approach Arrow, both of them assisting in standing the stranger up. With Arrow’s arms around each of their shoulders, Arrow sputtered a small cough, a black ooze seeping out of their nostril.

 

“Are you okay? What happened?” Frisk tried to ask, looking to Chara in worry. Chara had said something as well, however the words slowly drowned and faded out as incoherent mumblings. Arrow’s eyes grew heavy, before they fainted against the two.

* * *

 

Time had slowly passed, but they were out cold for a while. By the time Arrow was slowly coming to, all they could see was a narrow blurred space, and hear distant voices rambling over something not quite clear to them.

 

_“Why were they trying to get you in the first place?!”_ A familiar voice rang out in worry, their face hovering over Arrow as the traveller did nothing more than stare up at them. It must have been Frisk and Chara in a discussion.

 

_“I never wanted you to get this involved…”_ Another voice replied just as worriedly, though more stern. As Arrow’s vision slowly began to return to them, it was Frisk who sat over their body, looking away towards most likely Chara who sat elsewhere. The location was clear now, the three of them had reached an alleyway, and Arrow had been carried away from the docks in order to get here. “Involved in what, Chara?” Frisk had asked anyway, though Chara didn’t seem happy to respond “These necklaces we have... are really special. They look a lot like a rare set of priceless necklaces, they are really unique and one of a kind-- and a group known as the Underground are trying their best to collect them all. It’s a gang full of bad people, Frisk… and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

 

“The Underground.” Arrow repeated softly, finally raising off the ground to a sitting position. Frisk jumped at the realization of them being awake, but didn’t hesitate to hurry forward and help support them against the wall. Arrow bowed their head in gratitude, before looking over towards where Chara sat. Chara was opposite of Arrow and Frisk, sitting on the ground in a pretzel-like position and somewhat hunched forward as they eyed Arrow-- no longer with a hidden hatred or distrust, but with a thoughtful concern. Arrow bowed their head towards Chara as well in the same gratitude, before they repeated “The Underground…”

Their eyes quickly glanced towards their weapon lying right in front of them. They reached out to touch the brush portion of the staff, before sighing “I am sorry I was not careful with my words, I had upset you earlier without realizing it… you see, where I am from… the underground is merely a place. But… it is a mobster group in this world, yes?”

Chara hadn’t responded immediately at first. When Arrow lifted their head again to look towards the human, they simply looked to Frisk, who returned the look to Chara as well. It was a silent stand off on who would admit what, and at this point, the two humans both realized that Arrow had listened in to plenty of their conversation... even if they had been somewhat out of it. Chara finally nodded their head and sighed out “Yeah, the Underground are a group of crooks. They’re sorta popular and known for being these criminals who get away with whatever they want. They bribe people to shut up, or they kill people to get what they want. And their mission is priceless artifacts and gems… most likely just because they like money or something… but all I know is me and Frisk were spotted today, and now Undyne knows for a fact we got them.”

Arrow took the hint that Chara was referring to the pendants the two wore, both of them looking pretty alike in appearance. Chara finished speaking however, almost in a sulking manner “Undyne knows that we leave near the docks… she also knows our faces now… most likely she’ll start wandering places near here to figure out where we are. If she finds out where our alley is we’re screwed.”

 

“We’ll have to move again, won’t we?” Frisk asked Chara with a sad look stuck on their face.

“Not as long as I am here.” Arrow said with a firm nod, receiving a warm smile from Frisk, but a confused frown from Chara. It didn’t stop Arrow from persisting “I will protect you both at any cost.”

“Why?” Chara asked, squinting their eyes at them “I mean, don’t get me wrong… thanks for saving us, or… me. But still. You don’t know us… we’re strangers to you.”

“We really appreciate your help,” Frisk jumped into the conversation quickly, looking to Chara for reassurance at first, before looking to Arrow with a brighter smile than before “It means a lot, you saved Chara from getting hurt… and who knows what else. But I’m also sorta… curious to know why you’re going out of your way just to help us? You um… you don’t even know us…”

 

“You may not realize this, but we share a strong bond…” Arrow said softly, now taking ahold of their paint brush just to cradle it in their arms almost protectively. Their expression remained as neutral as it had been since they first arrived, and yet their eyes almost sparkled “...it is a bond that connects us no matter what universe I may appear in. And it is a bond that helps me focus on what is most important, which is making sure you both are safe.” They bowed their head and closed their eyes “I hope that makes sense, but all in all… I will do my best to help anyway I can.”

“Thank you, Arrow.” Frisk said with a slight blush as they looked away “That’s really thoughtful of you… it means a lot to us…”

 

“Well, it all sounds funky to me.” Chara said simply with a shrug of their shoulders. Arrow and Frisk glanced towards Chara, who was folding their arms now in a small bit of protest to Arrows words. Arrow frowned at Chara before tilting their head “I will admit, I am a bit weak… I will not be able to return home anytime soon. But for the time being, if you would let me, I would be honored to help you both out in any way that I can.”

 

Arrow looked around the alley, realizing that there literally wasn’t much going on in the area. They blinked back at Frisk and Chara; Frisk being somewhat bashful at Arrow’s realization, and Chara turning smug as Arrow asked almost hesitantly “Um… is there anything you would want me to help with, exactly? I feel… bad… that you two are forced to live in these conditions.”

 

“We chose this.” Chara corrected quickly “It’s better than the alternative… and anyway, for now, we need food.” Chara kept their smirk planted on their face as they looked at Frisk. Frisk was huffing slightly, shaking their head in their friends direction. Somehow, Arrow simply knew that the two were mentally communicating over something. Something Chara was excited to do, but something Frisk wasn’t entirely thrilled about. As if reading Arrow’s curiosity, Chara looked back at them and chuckled lowly “I guess this’ll be a coming of passage for you, Arrow. Time to teach you the ropes on what it’s like to be an orphan living on the city streets.”

Frisk groaned, mostly in annoyance “Geeze, are you talking about getting Arrow to steal?”

 

“Steal?” Arrow repeated with a blink.

 

Chara simply nodded, before standing up to their feet. They moved closer to Arrow just to help lift them up to their feet as well, soon joined by Frisk. Frisk grumbled “I don’t like it, we shouldn’t involve them in something like this. Besides, we already caused problems by the docks not too long ago, if we get into any more trouble we’ll have _everyone_ mad at us.”

“But if they’re willing to help, why not let them help?” Chara said this almost teasingly, gesturing for Arrow and Frisk to follow them as they began walking out of the alleyway “Come on, we’ll find a store a bit far from here so they can’t track us if things go bad. It’ll be a piece of cake.”

Frisk looked to Arrow with uncertainty “They always say that.”

* * *

 

“Alright, protector of justice, your mission _whether you like it or not_ is to help us grab some food from that fruit stand.”

 

The three teens peeked around the corner of a nearby wall over towards the marketplace, where a fruit stand stood with a variety of fresh fruits. There was a rather large and _slightly_ intimidating man behind the stall with a clean white apron on, shouting out to people who would pass by in order to sell his fruits. There were bananas, oranges, lemons, and apples on the stall-- but of course at the front of the wooden stand a paper read the prices all ranging around twenty-five cents.

“Maybe we should just look around for some change.” Frisk suggested nervously, looking to Arrow in hopes of them agreeing. Arrow seemed rather neutral on both ideas, but eventually Chara grabbed the others arm and tugged them after so that they could start their mission “Forget it, Frisk. Just keep an eye out alright? We’ll be there and back in no time-- just run when I tell you.”

 

Frisk frowned, but nodded nonetheless.

 

“So it’s pretty simple, basic really. Don’t act suspicious on the approach, but run for your life when you get it.” The teen started, standing at the sidewalk with Arrow to simply blend in with the busy streets of the market area. Arrow let their ears tune into Chara all the while watching the people around them. It most likely wouldn’t help that Arrow had been dressed far stranger than the monsters and humans of this universe. They couldn’t help but smile at the realization that monsters and humans alike lived on the surface together, holding hands, carrying children, shopping, it was pleasant.

“When I say go, you grab an armful of whatever you can… and then run, got it?” Chara instructed as if they were a pro, even though they had a rather disgruntled look on their face. Even Arrow felt a little uneasy over the situation, but they had already promised to help the two in anyway that they could… and if stealing fruit from a stand was something that would help them out in the long run, then so be it. Arrow gave a simple nod, and joined Chara as they both headed closer towards the fruit stand. Soon enough they had approached the stall, both of them curiously inspecting the fruit as if they would be purchasing some. The salesman glanced down at the two teens, his face remained plain and non-judgemental before moving on from them and turning around to talk with another customer.

 

_“Go!”_

 

The signal was clear. Arrow reached out quickly with both arms, shovelling a bunch of apples and oranges in their hold before darting off in Frisk’s direction. Chara did the same, except mostly with the bananas, before hurrying after Arrow. The salesman wouldn’t have even noticed they had stolen anything if it weren’t for a few passerbys. They happened to glance in Arrow’s directions as the two teens ran, and soon the bystanders were shouting “ **THOSE KIDS JUST STOLE THAT MAN'S FRUIT!** ”

The salesman quickly turned around, noticing most of his fruit gone, and he quickly started his sprint after the two " **MY FRUIT!!** "

 

“Frisk, move it!” Chara shouted out, causing the younger friend to jump and make a run for it. Frisk lead the way as Arrow followed right along, Chara behind them. The salesman wasn’t even close thankfully, Arrow would glance back towards Chara every so often to make sure they weren’t falling behind. Soon enough, Frisk had turned the corner, and the other two caught up with a few gasping breaths.

 

“Keep running!” Chara managed with a heavy gasp as they spoke “We need to get back to the alley with this--! It’s far enough w̶h̸e̴r̴e̶ ̷h̴e̶ ̷w̷̨̭̌̅o̷̲͐͋ͅn̷̢̟̂’̷̜̦͛͛t̶̟̍͜͝ ̵̭͎̆b̸̸̵̯̳̿̽o̷̸̴̰͂̏ͅt̶̶̷͎̘͐̓ĥ̷̸̴̙͚͊e̵̶̸̩͔̒͑r̸̴̶̻̰̂̂ ̶̷̵͍̜̃͘t̵̵̵̜̎͊͜o̶̷̵̖̙̔̎-̵̴̷̫̲͊̎-̴̶̶̧̞̰͎̺̼̘̺̞͕̐̐̏̂̒͗̾̾̂̀”̴̵̷̧̛̛̪̜͓͈̲͓̬͍̲̀̈͂̆͛̽̀͑

There was a loud buzzing that escaped Chara’s lips, almost like static, until Chara blinked out of existence.

It was so sudden and so quick that Arrow and Frisk both jumped in pure shock, Arrow dropping all of their fruit onto the ground just as the younger teen practically shouted out in horror “ **Ch-Chara?!** ”

 

Even the fruit Chara had been holding was nowhere to be found, all that had fallen due to the teens disappearance were the apples and oranges that Arrow had dropped on their own. They felt around in confusion, but a part of them questioned what really could have happened-- magic? Or was it… a glitch?

The tiny bit of black ooze dripped from their nose, hitting their upper lip as Arrow instinctively wiped it away. Seeing the dark spot on their sleeve, their mind went into a frenzy.

 

_Oh no._

 

“ **CHARA?!** ” Frisk was feeling around frantically, even more panicked and horrified than Arrow. The expressions on the peoples faces as they began to look in their direction symbolized judgement and disgust. They probably didn’t notice what had happened, and most likely were simply spotting two strangely dressed teenagers standing around a dropped pile of fruit screaming for someone who wasn’t even there. This looked bad, and even Arrow knew it.

“We have to get back to the alley.” Arrow instructed as calmly as possible, touching Frisk’s arm as the young human’s eyes started to swell with tears. The fear was apparent, even as Arrow tried their best to grab Frisk and pull them, Frisk struggled and started screaming for their friend in hopes of them reappearing. Whatever had happened-- it would do neither of them any good if they got caught now. Arrow wasn’t sure how to comfort Frisk, but all they knew was that the two of them needed to keep moving. Arrow kept their grip on Frisk even against the humans wishes, pulling them along the way as they made their shakey trek back towards the familiar alley space. It was a long walk, full of horrendous sobbing and wheezy breaths, but it wasn’t until they actually made it back that Frisk fought their way out of Arrow’s grip, and went as far as shoving the traveller against the wall.

 

“ **What happened?!** ” Frisk shouted at Arrow with clenched fists. Their eyes were still filled with tears, but they were now irritated after how long they had been crying. It took them about fifteen or so minutes just to make it back to their safe space, but Frisk was angrily expressing how unsafe they truly felt suddenly “Where’s Chara?! What did you _do_ to them?!”

“I-I did nothing…” Arrow started, but hesitated soon after. They honestly weren’t sure if they had no part in Chara’s sudden vanishing. It was rather bizarre; Chara was there one second and then the next… they emitted strange noises before vanishing into thin air. Arrow’s face expressed uncertainty in their own words, and even Frisk noticed and bit their bottom lip. Their brows furrowed, showing anger in hearing Arrow’s explanation, but at the same time they were holding themselves back. Frisk seemed ready to break down into a bigger sobbing mess than they already were over the loss of their friend, but as time continued to slowly move forward, within the deafening silence between the two came Frisk slowly calming down. Their crying had transformed into soft hiccupping and sniffling, and Arrow remained frozen in place and unsure what to actually do to fix the situation. Would they have to open up the universes code to find if there was a bug somewhere within?

 

It was sudden, but then a moment later there was the strange sound of static coming from beside them both. With a quick turn of their heads, they both spotted a peculiar blob of televised white noise that, in the blink of an eye, revealed itself as Chara. As if having literally travelled through the air to get back to the alley, Chara had landed on their feet and dropped the bananas that they were carrying all over the ground. They had stumbled slightly to keep their footing, but eventually they stumbled into the arms of Frisk; who had lifted up almost immediately at Chara’s arrival to give the best friend a big hug.

 

“ _What happened--?_ ” Chara asked rather faintly. As if dazed and confused, the teen was returning the hug rather weakly to Frisk even as the younger one held on practically for dear life. Frisk returned the question, but still failed to let go of Chara “We were wondering too!”

“I just…” Chara pushed away from Frisk to grant themselves some breathing room, which Frisk allowed and sat themselves down beside the lost teen as they listened to their story “...I was running after you guys, then the next second I was… nowhere? There was nothing but weird… numbers and shapes… but I just kept running, that’s all I figured I could do.” Chara looked towards Arrow then, who gave them a widened gaze back as they finished “Eventually I wound up back here.”

“I’m so glad you’re okay.” Frisk smiled, wiping their eyes rather quickly as if trying to hide the fact that they had been crying ever since they returned to the alley.

Arrow didn’t get a chance to say anything, they didn’t even have a chance to apologize for the glitch mistake-- because suddenly they coughed up more ink that dribbled out their lips and down their chin, their nose dripping the same black fluid as they quickly lifted their arm to try and cover themselves. The sudden lurch caused both Chara and Frisk to jump in shock, but just as Frisk hurried to Arrow’s side to try and comfort them, there was a loud noise coming from the alley’s entryway. With a turn of all three heads, they saw it. They saw a bizarre and rather surreal situation… of people, all sorts of people, frozen in place. Like a paused recording, different humans and monsters alike-- pedestrians-- were stuck in time. They were frozen for what felt like a few minutes, before finally their movement had sped up rapidly to fast-forward them back to where they should have been minutes ago. And with this, the light of the sky quickly phased into the dark, making it nighttime in an even shorter amount of time than it should have been. All the while, Arrow continued spitting into their arm.

 

“ _A-Arrow…_ ” Frisk mumbled nervously.

“Something is wrong.” Arrow wheezed out, keeping their arm safely over their mouth to try and hold back anything wanting to come up “I am _so_ sorry this is happening… so fast… there is… something wrong with the universe--”

 

“What gave that away?” Chara quickly looked back at Arrow and glared “Was it just now? Or the fact that I was literally teleported to some freaky--”

 

“Chara-- _please--_ ” Frisk started, returning to their friends side to touch their arm “Calm down… I’m sure we can all figure this out together.” Frisk was silent after that, unsure about what else to say other than those words. Arrow remained coughing into their arm while Chara glared elsewhere to refocus on anything other than Arrow. Frisk was angry and upset earlier at Arrow due to Chara’s disappearance, but even they showed mercy as they shifted their worried gaze back to Arrow “But…” Frisk looked at Arrow with a small smile “We’re all really tired. A lot’s happened today-- and there’s stuff still going on. What we all need right now is some rest, Arrow’s sick and whatever happened to you might fix itself with a little sleep.”

Chara wrinkled their nose, but gave a silent nod as they flopped themselves against the opposing alley wall, across the way from Arrow who leaned back against their own as well. Arrow had a deep frown hidden on their face, hidden behind their arm coated in ink as they muttered a faint apology again “ _I am… truly sorry…_ ”

“Whatever’s happening, we can figure it out tomorrow.” Frisk commented simply, looking at both of them with worry in their eyes before slowly taking the empty ground space between them both “Don’t just stay awake glaring at each other… get some sleep when you can…”

 

But before long, more and more time passed, and while Frisk was easily asleep and snoozing away, Arrow and Chara remained wide awake.

 

Arrow’s illness subsided, their body and breathing patterns more relaxed as they kept their gaze focused downward. The alley was pitch black other than the faint light of the few streetlamps that managed to peer into the narrow space to grant them faint sight. Chara’s eyes did the same, focusing downward in a false attempt at pretending to be resting when… in reality, they were having trouble sleeping too.

 

They had sat there for a few hours in total silence. Neither one of them willing to speak to each other at first, but soon enough as Frisk’s sleeping noises escaped, Arrow quickly asked in hopes to at least distract themselves for a bit “How are you feeling, Chara?”

 

“I should ask you the same.” Chara shot back just as quickly. It was almost reflexive how fast Chara returned the question, it even seemed to startle themselves in the process, but after a bit of more silence Arrow finally answered “A lot better, thank you.” Before once more returning “And yourself?”

 

“Still a little… shaky…” Chara confessed. They lowered their head downward again to refocus on the ground “I can’t sleep… everything I’m seeing, everything that’s happening… it’s really weird. It’s stuff that’s never happened to me before so I just don’t-- know how to react, I guess?” They shook their head “It’s creepy. I feel restless. When I close my eyes I see the… weird place again.”

“I am… sorry…” Arrow tried again, frowning as they continued gazing over at Chara. Chara once more shook their head “I don’t want to think about it… if you’re having trouble sleeping too, then lets change the subject.” They turned their head away “Just… tell me more about...this _other Chara_. You did say that there was a Chara in your world, right?”

The words almost brought an immediate smile to Arrow’s face, their lips curled slightly as they gave a small nod. The traveller thought back to the Chara of their own universe as they slowly closed their eyes “Chara from my universe is… one of the reasons why I am even alive to begin with. He donated his DNA in order to help me become who I am. He is like an older brother to me.”

“ _Uh huh._ ” Chara simply muttered in response, but was nodding and looking in Arrows direction as if actually paying attention. Arrow nodded in return before continuing “It was Chara and Gaster who helped me be created, I am unlike any other monster… at least, as far as I am aware. There are many universes out there-- who knows if there is another me somewhere among them.”

“Who’s Gaster?” Chara asked then. Arrow gave an almost timid smile then, opening their mouth to begin a rather long talk about how Gaster was their father figure back in their universe-- but just as soon as the question was asked, Chara-- like hours ago-- emitted static and vanished in a weird flash of light. But thankfully just as quick as they had dispersed, they reemerged in the blink of an eye. It didn’t stop Chara from expressing the horror on their face as they held their head in their hands and trembled.

Arrow quickly moved to Chara’s side, trying to remain quiet out of the worry of waking Frisk from their slumber. Chara didn’t hold back from leaning on Arrow for support. The traveller could feel the human shaking almost violently, as if suffering from some sort of undying cold. Of course a human would not be used to such strange magical happenings… ones that they never chose to be apart of, no less.

 

“I-It happened again…” Chara started, breathing out weak breaths as they shook their head in disbelief “I was gone for a bit again-- but I came back… I… I don’t know what to do now--”

 

“ _Something is not right._ ” Arrow said almost between gritted teeth. They had wrapped an arm around Chara now, staring up at the sky as they tried to find signs of more weird events happening around them. Nothing seemed to actually occur, but Arrow held onto the other for a few more minutes until, thankfully, Chara had stopped shaking so much. But Arrow still mentioned almost nervously “There is something wrong… why are you being targeted for these glitches?”

“Is that what they are?” Chara asked, their voice less weak and returning to its old tone. Chara looked to Arrow in confusion “What’s gonna happen if this keeps going on…?”

“Right now we should not think about that.” Arrow tried their best to avoid giving any sort of answer. Not that they knew, but they were slowly developing a theory as to why there were so many bugs suddenly occurring, let alone the glitches developing within Chara themselves. Neither of the two could sleep anyway, so Arrow suddenly proposed “We should visit the place where we first met… back at the docks. Maybe there will be answers there for us.”

“Might as well do it now.” Chara wasted no time as they slowly got to their feet, agreeing almost immediately with Arrow. Just as the two began to make their way quietly towards the entrance of the alley, there was a stir behind them.

 

As if sensing the two’s plan, Frisk mumbled in their sleep, before slowly letting their tired eyes open as they hummed “ _Mm… where are you two going?_ ”

 

“We need to check something out at the docks.” Arrow said with a firm nod. Chara held out a hand as if hoping for Frisk to get back to sleep, but the younger was already rubbing their eyes to wake up more fully as they began lifting to their feet. Frisk mumbled once again “Then I’m coming with you guys… the sooner we get this over with, the better…”

 

“It’s still dark out…” Chara seemed to remind Frisk, who was slowly waking up bit by bit-- at least enough to give Chara a ‘duh’ face as Chara continued “...maybe you should just stay asleep?”

 

“If we all go together it’s more safer.” Frisk confirmed with a nod, officially wide awake now as they looked to Arrow “Remember, Undyne knows about us living close to the docks now. If something happens to either of you while I’m just sleeping here alone… I don’t know what I’d do.” Frisk sighed softly, before smiling at them “But the longer we wait, the less likely we’ll be able to get this over with, so let's get going.”

Arrow and Chara looked to each other with concern on their faces, but eventually the three of them agreed to head out together.

* * *

 

The docks at night were eerily silent, and yet as the three walked closer towards the specified location where Arrow first appeared, there seemed to be a faint white noise echoing along the ground. Not far from where they walked, they easily spotted a transparent image of Undyne; the woman apart of the Underground gang. But not just her, the three also saw a perfect copy of Chara, looking exactly the same as they did now. Strange enough, they were being tossed into Undyne’s car in the frozen picture before them. The three of them simply stared as they witnessed the image of Chara being successfully abducted and taken into the vehicle, it was something that hadn’t happened before… so it looked bizarre even now as the trio gazed on in confusion. As soon as they approached to get a more clear visual, the frozen timepiece started looping, over and over, like a recording layered in static and white noise of Chara being thrown aggressively into the car, before the ‘video’ would rewind itself and begin again. As hesitant as Chara and Frisk were about approaching the image any closer, Arrow was the only one to step forward and press their hand through it, their entire arm easily phasing through as if it weren’t even there. All three of them shared a few worried expressions, but it was Frisk who broke the silence “This is… supposed to mean something… right?”

 

“But this didn’t happen.” Chara spoke up after, looking to Arrow with wide eyes “How are we seeing something thats never happened?”

Arrow didn’t want to say it, but even as the other two’s expressions shifted knowingly, Arrow knew they had to be the one to let it out. To them it was obvious as they pieced everything together, maybe it wasn’t as obvious to the normal humans. With a small sigh, the traveller stated “If I had never appeared, then this is what would have happened.”

Frisk followed suit then and approached the looped recording, doing the same as Arrow and pushing an arm out to try and touch the projection. Their arm sliced through the static image of Chara being thrown into the car, but they quickly retracted their arm just as the recording rewound again “So if this is just showing us what could have happened, then we don’t need to worry about it.”

 

Chara looked to Frisk almost dumbfounded, their eyes still wide as even they started piecing the clues together as well “Frisk, don’t you get it?”

 

“Frisk…” Arrow intervened to try and explain as calmly as possible “...If I had never appeared, then this is what would have happened. This means that what is happening to Chara… and to this universe… is all because I had interfered with pre-scheduled events.”

 

“Scheduled?” Frisk repeated in confusion, though their voice cracked slightly as if knowing what else would be said. Arrow merely nodded “Yes. It means events that are supposed to happen. That… _were_ supposed to happen. There is a storyline for you both, events that are already predetermined.” Arrow looked to Chara, who was now looking elsewhere, most likely trying to avoid Frisk’s reaction as the traveller finished “Chara was supposed to be abducted. And until that happens, until the story is back on track, this universe will continue breaking.”

After the dreaded words were said, there was silence other than the static noises coming from the glowing recording before the three. Chara made their way closer to Frisk and simply touched their shoulder, but as soon as they had done so, Frisk yanked themselves away and shook their head “It’s not going to happen!”

“Frisk…” Chara was surprisingly more understanding than Arrow expected them to be, but even the human was trying to defend Arrows words “...I know it all sounds bizarre… but after everything that has happened? It makes… a little bit of sense. The weirdness all started when Arrow showed up… so…”

 

“I’m **NOT** going to just let you get kidnapped by some **JERKS!** ” Frisk shouted out. Their shout had echoed off the walls and the docks, and it seemed to fade out across the ocean as Frisk stomped their foot to stand their ground “I don’t care _what_ happens!”

 

“But you **DO** care, Frisk!” Chara shouted back, startling both Arrow and Frisk as they let their eyes seemingly glow in the dark “Don’t you see what’s happening to me?! At this rate you won’t even need to worry about me being around because as far as we know, the longer this keeps up the more I’m going to disappear and soon enough I won’t even **exist!** Is that what you want?! For me to just disappear forever?!”

 

“Chara stop!” Frisk almost immediately covered their ears in hopes of not hearing anymore of Chara’s words “I don’t want to think about it! I can’t just let you get attacked without doing anything! Forget it!”

 

“Frisk!” Chara had reached out and grabbed Frisk’s arms, yanking their hands off from over their ears as they opened their mouth to continue the shouting battle-- but Chara’s face quickly became distorted, their loud words almost drowning on themselves as their body deteriorated and broke; collapsing into pieces before vanishing into thin air. As if Frisk had been leaning on Chara’s grasp, the younger teen stumbled forward slightly, before quickly returning their hands over their ears as if to try and silence the looping video that emitted no sound. Frisk dropped to their knees and started to softly cry, wheezing out almost breathlessly as they made noises similar to someone doing their very best not to scream.

 

Arrow pulls out their staff, sighing as this time they let their paintbrush slice through the recording set up before them. They look to Frisk worriedly, before mumbling “ _I will be right back._ ” and stepping through the rift. The space and code seemed to suck Arrow in, but soon enough the peculiar monster was wrapped in a darkness darker than the night that had once surrounded them.

In the blink of an eye, Arrow appeared right beside Chara, who was in the midst of searching for another way out as they glanced around the rift the two now resided in. The rift of space and code, the ‘rules’ of the universe… or at least, the universe they were currently set in.

“Arrow!” Chara shouted out in surprise as they turned and spotted the familiar face. Arrow had never seen Chara so happy to see them-- and yet Chara’s eyes were wide in fear “You’re stuck here too?”

“I came here willingly,” The other clarified, giving no real smile or frown at the situation “Now that I know what is happening and where you keep vanishing off to, it was easy to find you here. But…” Arrow cleared their throat, before speaking more sternly “While we are alone… before we return you back… I need your help in explaining to Frisk the importance of what needs to happen.” After having said this, Arrow frowned subtly at the thought. It wasn’t as if they were any happier about the situation than Frisk, but sometimes in order to save something important, people had to do things they didn’t like.

Arrow gestured towards a white wall of text within the dark, the multiple lines of numbers and letters continuously shifted and moved, and yet there was a large blotch-like spot of red that remained, almost fractured and stuck in place, as Arrow pointed “This is the break in the code of your universe. Because of that one moment where I protected you from Undyne, your entire world is at risk of being destroyed. Because of this tiny glitch of saving you when you were not meant to be saved, everyone in this world… including Frisk and yourself… will be wiped away. Your story is currently paused, but it can only freeze for so long before things begin to cave in on themselves. Do you understand?”

“I…” Chara breathed out, staring at the text almost in horror at the information they were being forced to take in. It was even moreso difficult for Chara to swallow most likely due to the fact that… within the red jumbled text and numbers… Chara’s own name stood out boldly. Chara had to take in the fact that _they were the glitch in their own universe._ Most likely for a human of a smaller alternate universe, they weren’t used to such large technology or science-like discoveries. This universe, after all, was somewhere amidst the 1900’s… that in itself was prehistoric. But after Chara stared on a little bit longer, soon enough their wide eyes relaxed as they lowered their head sadly “I understand... I know… I think so, at least.”

“It is important for Frisk to know, too.” Arrow said faintly, as the glitched text faded into the background of the working code of the world “I know you do not want to leave Frisk on their own… and that is what will happen if you are taken away. But Chara, you both would have far more to worry over than just the Underground in this case. You will disappear… and soon everyone else will follow, until there is nothing left.”

“I get it, geeze.” Chara breathed out shakily, holding onto their arm as if it had been injured in some way. They looked rather timid suddenly, strangely insecure for someone as tough and hot-headed as Chara had been displaying themselves to be all this time… but they were overwhelmed. They knew what had to happen, they didn’t like it, but they knew things had to be fixed “Frisk won’t understand though… they’re like me but… they run on pure emotion. I don’t think they’ll listen at this point no matter what we tell them, you or me.”

“We have to try.” Arrow managed almost strictly. “ _You_ have to try.”

The situation was serious, Arrow knew what they had to do and that was their main priority now. They had to protect Frisk and Chara, and if that meant getting Chara abducted like they were meant to be… then so be it.

 

Chara followed Arrow out of the rift in code to return to the real world, and almost as soon as Chara had stepped out, they were greeted with open arms by a sobbing and almost hysterical Frisk. Frisk clung and gripped onto Chara like there was no tomorrow, Chara frowning deeply knowing fully well that at this rate, there might not be.

 

“See?!” Frisk yelled in between cries and sniffles “I can’t! I can’t lose Chara! They’re all I have!”

 

“Frisk…” Chara returned the hug hesitantly, looking to Arrow with worry.

 

Arrows determination faltered at the sad sight. Chara was right, Frisk would not take reason no matter what happened.

 

“I’m not gonna let anyone hurt you, Chara!” Frisk said quickly, allowing Chara to slowly pull away as they gripped the younger friends shoulders. Chara looked over Frisk’s face for a moment-- their flustered and frustrated red face as tears filled their puffy eyes, and their cheeks were stained in the sadness-- before once more pulling in the younger for a tighter embrace. Frisk was left sobbing uncontrollably against Chara’s chest, and Chara stared on at Arrow as they whispered “I won’t let anything hurt you either, Frisk… so long as I can help it.”

Chara gave a firm nod in Arrow’s direction, before walking away from the abduction reel and back towards where they had come from. Arrow nodded as well and silently followed.

Arrow knew fully well that this Chara would always put Frisk first, and if they had to be kidnapped for Frisk to not disappear-- then so be it.

* * *

 

It took many hours for Frisk to fall back asleep, it helped that Chara pretended to sleep alongside them.

The sky was beginning to brighten and the stars were slowly fading away by the time Frisk had cried themselves to sleep in Chara’s arms. The alley allowed the sherbert toned skies to wash over them, and that was when Chara and Arrow helped Frisk relax comfortably on the floor, alone, before leaving them in the alley and slowly making their way back to the docks; just the two of them.

 

As the two are walking and making their way, they both easily take note of the all-too-familiar vehicle standing not too far off from their turn toward the piers. They glance to one another, before continuing on.

It was an equally shared silent walk towards the docks. Arrow giving glances towards the human now and again to try and read their face-- however, Chara’s expression seemed just as neutral as Arrow’s in the situation. Chara had probably mentally prepared for this moment the entire time they were comforting Frisk to help them sleep.

 

All the while, the familiar vehicle drove along… from a safe distance of course, most likely trying not to be suspicious.

 

The two eventually turned into their destination, spotting the recording once again in its same exact location from before. It was more difficult to see due to the light of the sunrise, but the recording was still memorable. The sunrise set a surprisingly calm mood, even moreso with the emptiness and lacking of other people, and the only sounds around them being far off into the waters. Nothing but the ocean, the sky, and the breeze. Seasalt scents filled their nostrils and static sounds rang in their ears once the two fully approached the video. And then, they slowly turned themselves around to face the car that had obviously followed them the entire time.

 

This was it.

 

“I am fully healed, Chara.” Arrow stated suddenly, breaking their silence that had lasted since the two of them, along with Frisk, had returned to the alley to ‘pretend rest’ before arriving on their own to this very moment “I can harness my full potential once again. With this, I can use my... ‘emergency’ ability, which is simply to glitch out of the timeline and wipe myself from this universe.” Arrow’s stern and neutral face had finally softened at their own words “This will reset everything as if I had never appeared. After this, things will return to normal once more.”

Chara nodded, most likely not caring about what Arrow would be doing after this. All they seemed to be focused on was getting the craziness over with, and their eyes were locked on the car that remained sitting there not too far off from the two.

 

“And that’s my ride, I guess.” Chara muttered simply, Arrow nodding to confirm. Neither of them were sure what the ‘villain’ was waiting for, considering this time neither of them were going to fight or anything. They were both ready to form a rather simple _deal_ of sorts.

 

Chara glanced then to Arrow “At least… before anything happens…”

Arrow returned the gaze, just as the human finished “...keep Frisk safe, alright? At least while you’re here. Before you go… check on them one last time… see if they’ll be alright. Tell them… everything will be okay.”

 

Just as those words were said, the car pulled even closer now towards the two. Arrow almost immediately held out an arm before Chara, gesturing for the human to move behind them as they gave a stern gaze towards the black windows of the car. Arrow looked to Chara over their shoulder, giving a small nod “I promise, Chara.” Before returning to the task at hand.

 

“Undyne.” Arrow started immediately “The three of us will make a deal, but we will only talk with you-- no one else. Leave your group in the vehicle.”

 

The car had stopped running, turning off and signalling the two that she was preparing to step out. Whether she would oblige with the request or not was unclear. Chara spoke up then instead “Did you hear us, fishface?! I’ll come with you willingly if you come out of there alone!”

 

The door to the drivers side of the car had yet to open, and the vehicle failed to move even slightly to make apparent any motions or movements were happening within. Everyone inside the car must have been completely frozen in place in confusion over the situation. Arrow and Chara stood their ground however, remaining still and slowly growing silent as they simply waited for the inevitable. No matter what happened at this point, either Undyne would step out alone to take Chara… or she’d step out with her gang to take them. No matter what happened, in the end they’d both technically get what they wanted.

Soon enough, and finally, the driver’s door swung open, and out stepped Undyne. She squinted her angry eyes towards the two as she slammed the door behind her, waving her own arm towards the car-- most likely hinting at her group that they didn’t need to follow her out. Chara sighed out in relief that she had apparently agreed… but her voice boomed and shook them again as Undyne spat “What gives? Giving up so easily all of a sudden?”

 

“If you don’t touch the other human you saw the other day…” Chara started, ignoring her words as they glared up at the blue-toned woman “...then I promise to go with you willingly, right here and right now.”

 

Undyne folded her arms across her chest, grimacing as she looked towards Arrow. Arrow finally lowered their arm from protectively keeping Chara and the woman separated, they returned the gaze as Undyne huffed “What about this _thing,_ huh? Sounds like a little _kiddy_ trap you two are pulling. Is this _freak_ gonna do some more weird crap?”

 

“I will not, you have my word.” Arrow said with a nod.

 

Undyne sneered “What’s your word _worth,_ chum?”

 

“I would have done something about you by now if my words meant nothing.” Arrow returned, furrowing their brows as Undyne did the same with hers. The two stared aggressively at one another, eyes locked in some sort of mental combat of wits as Chara rubbed the back of their neck nervously “I just want your word too, Undyne… that you won’t hurt the other human you saw… okay? You’ll have me, but just… leave them out of this.”

 

Undyne went silent once more,  cracking her knuckles as she glanced back and forth between Arrow and Chara. She made it seem as if she were prepared to step out of line and beat them both up-- but after her tough stance had calmed and she actually seemed to relax even a tiny bit, both Chara and Arrow relaxed as well. Undyne’s shoulders slumped in almost disbelief, maybe she still felt everything was too easy or too good to be true? But nonetheless, she agreed with them as she gestured with her head towards the car “Fine, you got my word… the other brat won’t be touched.”

“That means don’t just come driving around to look for them later.” Chara elaborated, causing the monster woman to roll her eyes just as the back door to the car was opened. Within the vehicle looked rather dark, crowded by the many goons that sat in waiting in the back seat for Chara to join them. Undyne pulled the door a bit more open for the human “I promise, alright? Now just--”

 

“ **NO!** ”

 

All three of them turned their heads as they saw Frisk already racing towards the vehicle. Breathless, red-faced, and tear-streaked as they bolted as fast as they could in their direction to stop the transaction. But it was too late.

Arrow couldn’t help but frown, as they turned back to Undyne “I will keep them at bay, you and Chara go ahead.”

 

“Well, get in then.” Undyne told Chara, who tried their best to avoid looking in Frisks direction as they climbed into the car. Just as soon as Chara had vanished out of sight, Undyne climbed into the car as well to start it up. Frisk had arrived just in time for Chara’s door to slam shut, and Arrow was quick to pull Frisk away from the car.

 

“ **ARROW WHY!!** ” Frisk shouted, grunting as they tried to pull out of the human-like monsters hold. Arrow had hooked their arms around Frisk’s shoulders to hold them back from attacking the vehicle, which was difficult since Frisk squirmed and fought against them as best as they could. The human screamed and cried out for Chara, it was slowly breaking Arrow’s spirit watching as the car finally screeched out of the docks and drove off. The moment Frisk realized they wouldn’t be able to chase after the car, they shifted their sorrowful anger towards Arrow. The monster allowed Frisk to turn around just so that Frisk could take out their frustration, allowing Frisk to punch and hit Arrow’s chest as strongly as they possibly could. Even in Frisk’s pain and agony, they seemed incapable of fully dishing out how they felt to a physical level; they simply screamed and cried incoherent words in Arrow’s general direction after their rough ‘petting’ subsided into simply leaning against the other and sobbing uncontrollably into them.

Arrow swallowed “I am truly sorry, for all that has happened.”

“You’re a **LIAR!!** If you mean that then you would have **DONE SOMETHING!!** ” Frisk’s voice cracked as they poured out their heart, but soon enough their shouting had retracted and shifted into whimpering as they now began coughing from choking down so many tears _“Why did this happen--? Why did you let this happen-- you… you’re stronger than both of us you could’ve--”_

“I thought I could before.” Arrow wrapped their arms around Frisk, frowning deeply as they stared off in the direction of where Undyne, and Chara, had vanished “I know why I came here… because I felt your distress, and I felt Chara’s too. But… just because something feels wrong or seems upsetting does not mean I, or anyone else, has any right to interfere with the laws of things.” Arrow’s hold on Frisk tightened “I jumped into this without realizing I could have an affect on something greater… I apologize for meddling, and I apologize for ever making you feel this much pain.”

 

“Then fix this…” Frisk was slowly coming down from their wailing, pulling away from Arrow to sniffle and hiccup, wiping their own eyes on their dirtied sleeve “If you want me to believe you… then fix this. Save Chara again like before… _help me, Arrow._ ”

 

“Chara is safe, as you will be too.” Arrow pulled back, slowly taking hold of their staff again and letting the bottom rest against the ground “Everyone is safe… my work here is done, and it is time for me to--”

 

“ **NO ONE IS SAFE!!** ” Frisk suddenly picked up their voice again, glaring with flushed cheeks at Arrow as the monster looked away in shame “Chara’s gone! And you kept me from saving them! Chara was ALL that I had LEFT and now I’m all ALONE!” Frisk scoffed then “And what are you about to say, huh? That you’re gonna leave too? I’m losing two people in one day and you think that everything’s fine?!”

Arrow swallowed, closing their eyes as they let their mind focus on home. Their own home. Back where their Chara was alright, where their own world was balanced and untampered. Back where they could fix their own mistakes so easily… easier than the current situation they were in. There wasn’t as much heartbreak as this… there wasn’t as much _pain._

_“Frisk…”_ Arrow started lightly, keeping their eyes elsewhere “I know I hurt you… I know I hurt both you and Chara, and I know you feel as if I have betrayed you in so many ways… but you will not remember me when I leave. You will not remember anything that ever involved me-- that is my promise to you. That is me _fixing_ this.”

Arrow finally looked to Frisk once the human had calmed down, Frisk simply staring at Arrow dumbfounded as they continuously tried to wipe and pat at their own face to compose themselves. The monster continued, just as they slowly used their paintbrush in order to pierce the air; pulling a thread of code apart and letting it rip open “Frisk, everything will return to normal as soon as I leave. You will not hurt… you will not remember a single thing… and if that is what it takes to help this world then--”

 

“I may not remember you, Arrow…”

Arrow paused, looking towards Frisk again as the human rubbed at their eyes and spoke up wearily “But… I’ll remember the feeling. Because as much as we all like to _forget_ the bad times, feelings never go away. Life isn’t as easy as messing with magic, forcing people to forget or to remember… _playing_ with people like we’re just some _game._ ”

Arrow frowned, but Frisk wasn’t finished “Even when you’re gone and life is back to its old self… I’ll feel the hurt. I won’t know why it’s there, but I’ll truly feel it.”

 

“I am so sorry, Frisk.” Arrow managed, turning fully towards Frisk and giving them a tight hug once more. Their soul was aching, pounding just as it had done before when they first stumbled upon the alternate timeline. Back when they first appeared to save Frisk and Chara from Undyne and this _Underground_ group. All the feelings they felt still existed-- and even if memories ceased for Frisk and Chara once Arrow left, Arrow would always be forced to remember everything they couldn’t do for these two in this world of theirs.

 

Frisk surprisingly returned the hug, just as tightly as they nodded in silence. Arrow spoke softly “I promise… you and Chara will return to each other.”

 

Frisk sniffled, slowly pulling back then to look at Arrow “How do you know?”

 

Arrow gave a warm smile, going as far as petting the top of Frisk’s head “There are many worlds and universes out there, but in many that include Frisk’s and Chara’s… they always seem to be stuck together. It seems almost impossible to keep them apart in any universe.”

 

Frisk chuckled softly, wiping their eyes again “Heh… thanks…”

 

Arrow wasn’t sure what else to say, they merely waved towards Frisk as they stepped themselves back into the portal, and closed it behind them.

With a deep breath, knowing fully well it would hurt a lot, they let their magic flow and the energy crush them. The glitch sent Arrow far, dividing them-- fracturing them into pieces and bits of data as they let themselves rewind for a long period of time. The code rebuilt itself all the while Arrow destroyed themselves-- all so that things could return to normal again-- all so that they would never mess or meddle with the universe that they were never meant to be apart of.

 

And for a split second, Arrow ceased to exist.

 

In the blink of an eye Arrow looked down at the snow underneath their feet. They gave a nervous smile at the familiarity of the town, before looking up as they caught their own breath in the wind. White smoke escaping their lips, the lightly decorated town of Snowdin-- they had returned underground once more.

But their chest still ached. It ached to fix things… to save Frisk. To help Frisk and Chara… and at the memory of leaving Frisk all alone. Frisk and Chara would, once again, arrive at the docks… all to simply watch Chara get abducted one last time to leave Frisk alone by themselves. And this time, Arrow wouldn’t appear from thin air to save either of them.

Suddenly nervous, they remembered the words they told Frisk… of being so certain that Chara and Frisk would meet again.

Arrow turned their head and headed towards their home. Questioning whether they were a liar or not. What was this dreaded feeling all of a sudden.

 

              “Am I a liar?”


End file.
